70's Obscure Prog Bands

Maybe 4 stars...Can't see it at 5 stars though....hell I don't think I have ever given anything 5 ..

 

Looks like the OP is long gone..but I'll mention both Web and Samurai...two of my favorite obscure bands from the 70's.

 

That YouTube address looks familiar.

 

The only really obscure artist on my first A-Z list is Zzebra, but that's only because I couldn't think of any other British prog artists beginning with the letter "Z"

 

Jon Anderson (20 albums)
Barclay James Harvest (26 albums)
Camel (18 albums)
Deep Purple (29 albums)
Electric Light Orchestra
Fruupp
David Gilmour
Annie Haslam
Illusion
Jade Warrior
King Crimson
Jon Lord
The Moody Blues
Nektar
Mike Oldfield
Pink Floyd
Queen
Renaissance
Spooky Tooth
Traffic
Uriah Heep
Van der Graaf Generator
Rick Wakeman
Yes
Zzebra

The listing here for the 70's stuff is almost exactly like a listing of bands and material from Guy Guden's original SPACE PIRATE RADIO that started in Santa Barbara in January 1974. The listing of those bands, by many folks here, is almost a crazy copy of the listing of stuff played in the Space Pirate's shows ... and I think it was in the middle of 1974, apparently someone made a comment, or joke, about the number of bands played, and by that time, he had already played over 100 of those bands, and we're not talking ... just a song ... almost all of the albums got the full treatment ... it's just a shame that the listing for those shows can not be shown (it's not complete), because they are one of the most important records that ... IT WAS NOT OBSCURE ... it was out there, and we just needed to hear it ... and many of us did!

Here is 'Brainstorm' , not related to the Hawkwind track. 

Thanks for posting the track for me, had a go at editing my post to get a  You tube link to 'Brainstorm' but didn't quite work. 

Yes, see quite a link to  '60's psychedelia, and maybe Spontaneous Combustion  sounded a bit too outdated for the 1970's prog rock crowd and band didn't quite make it to space rock. Will have to look them up in Greg Lake's autobiography. 

Decent stuff but a bit too late for the time period...psych was almost gone...

do I hear a Zep riff in there? 

Indeed, just found a long feature on Spontaneous Combustion here : Fascinating reading. Particularly like the account of how a Spontaneous Combustion track  ended up - in error- on the 2012 re-issue of 'Tarkus' as 'Unknown Ballad' . Seems that a final line up of the group ended up recording in West Germany  under the name 'Time'in 1975 with a Krautrock producer, making an album that was compared to early Yes. 

https://bournemouthbeatboom.wordpress.com/spontaneous-combustion/

Off the top of my head I think bass player Tristram Margetts was a member of both this band and then later 'The Greg Lake Band' (along with Gary Moore , Tommy Eyre and Ted McKenna).

The Guild - I recommend "Susurrus" - folky, but definitely the prog runs strong in it.  Late '70's if I recall.

Madrigal - "Waiting" - not sure if this was '70's or '80's - but they were *good.*  Spokane area band.  Heavy Genesis/Gentle Giant vibe, but they had their own sound and lots of talent.  I think they had a record deal with Musea back in the day.

Another obscure prog band (from Connecticut, I think), was Holding Pattern.

Edited to add:  Also, "Milkweed" - another obscure prog outfit (Canadian, I think).